Samsung Electronics Posts Over 107 Trillion Won in Q3 Operating Profit... Setting New Record Surpassing US Big Tech

[Anchor]

Samsung Electronics has posted an all-time record performance, generating over 107 trillion won in operating profit in the third quarter alone. Projections are also emerging that if this trend continues, it could become the most profitable company in the world this year.

[Reporter]

Samsung Electronics has opened the era of 100 trillion won in quarterly earnings for the first time among South Korean companies.

Sales for the third quarter of this year reached 195 trillion won, with an operating profit of 107.4 trillion won.

This is the second-highest record globally, following Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company Aramco, which posted 116 trillion won in 2022.

It also easily surpassed the recent quarterly operating profits of US big tech companies such as Google, Apple, and Microsoft.

The cumulative operating profit up to the third quarter stands at 254.1 trillion won, with forecasts suggesting that the total for the year will exceed 360 trillion won.

This is similar to NVIDIA's projected operating profit of 360.20 trillion won for the year—NVIDIA being the world's top company by market capitalization—leading to predictions that Samsung Electronics could become the company with the highest operating profit in the world this year.

[Kim Dong-won / Head of Research Center, KB Securities: There is a high possibility that it will be almost similar to or exceed (NVIDIA's operating profit). In the case of legacy DRAM and NAND flash, supply shortages have intensified, creating a supply-and-demand structure that allows for further price increases....]

The backdrop to the massive operating profit is pointed to as the ongoing memory shortage phenomenon and the resulting price increases.

As the expansion of AI continues to drive demand for high-performance and legacy memory, the prices of DRAM and NAND flash—which surged six-to-nine-fold compared to the third quarter of last year—are rising further.

Amid competition to secure memory in advance, Samsung Electronics is converting 60 to 70 percent of its total production into 5-year long-term contracts.

The company is in a position to prevent a sharp decline in sales even if a semiconductor downcycle arrives.

[Lisa Su / CEO of AMD: Because supply chains are becoming more complex, cooperation on a 3- to 5-year basis is necessary, rather than 1 to 3 years.]

It is estimated that sales of HBM4, the latest high-bandwidth memory with high profit margins, have also increased significantly amid competition to expand agentic AI.

However, it was analyzed that the home appliances and mobile divisions likely posted deficits due to rising memory prices.

Samsung Electronics plans to release detailed performance figures by division later this month.

(Photo: Seol Chi-hwan, Video Editing: Kim Jong-mi, Design: Seo Seung-hyun)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.